MORRISTOWN — The front doors of the historic Morris County courthouse, used for 191 years, will no longer serve as the main entry into the halls of justice.

Morris County officials anticipate the new entrance of glass and brick on the Court Street side of the five-story courthouse will open to the public by next week. It will provide a more secure entry into the building for visitors and employees.

"The highlights are safety and security on this new access point to the courthouse," said county Sheriff James M. Gannon, who is responsible for security in the facility.

The traditional entrance to the courthouse that overlooks Washington Street will be locked and signs will direct visitors - more than 450,000 people a year - around the corner to the new entrance. The historic entrance to the original courthouse built in 1827 will be used as an emergency exit only, Gannon said.

Construction of the $300,000 project by AB Contracting of Wharton started in October and was delayed by blizzards and inclement weather. An archaeologist was on site at the beginning, watching for buried remnants of 19th Century homes that decades ago were torn down near the courthouse.

The new entrance is directly across the one-way Court Street entrance to the county Administration and Records building, which houses government and court offices, four courtrooms, the Prosecutor's Office and other services.

Visitors will enter a set of double doors and walk up a short flight of steps, or use a lift installed for visitors with disabilities - to a second set of double doors that serve as entrance and exit to the courthouse.

Then, a right-hand turn into a large room formerly used as an intake unit for criminal defendants will bring visitors to the magnetometers, where they and their belongings will be screened by sheriff's officers. Visitors then will leave the screening area through another set of doors to enter the courthouse on the first floor, where they can take stairs to the second floor or follow a corridor to the main lobby.

Gannon and Sheriff's Office Capt. Gerald Pennino said details are still being fine-tuned and the screening room will be carpeted and equipped with a magnetometer in the next week. Officers also will be around the exterior of the courthouse to direct visitors to the new entrance, they said.

The new access coincides with the revamping of Court Street. New sidewalks are being installed along with new street lamps. The road is expected to be repaved in the next few weeks.

The original courthouse, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in August 1977, was added to in 1956 and 1970. Before the additions, a now-defunct Morris County Jail was built in the 1930's behind the courthouse and four houses were demolished for its construction.

"Our new design has some concentric rings around it. We have layers of security which is a prudent way to secure any facility. We'll have an officer outside and a number of officers inside so that people don't just enter from the outside and be right upon a magnetometer or X-ray equipment. We'll have an opportunity to better secure the environment here," Gannon said.